Stovepipe-cleaner.



PATENTED OUT. 9, 1906* E. BURGER.

STOVBPIPE CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE so, 1906.

Attorneys Rs-co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES EDWARD BURGER, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA.

STOVEPlPE-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed June 30, 1905. Serial No. 267,829.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, EDWARD BURGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kokorno, in the county of Howard and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Stovepipe-Cleaner, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to stovepipe-cleaners, and has for its object to provide an improved device of this character capable of being mounted in the horizontal portion of the stovepipe which communicates with the chimney-flue and also adapted to be readily reciprocated within the pipe to scrape accumulations of soot therefrom and to collect and dump such accumulations into the chimney-flue and also into the upright portion of the stovepipe.

A further object of the invention is to provide for supporting the scraping device when moved into the chimney-flue to enable dumping thereof without liability of the scraper .dropping down through the flue.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a chimney and a section of a stovepipe associated therewith with the present stovepipe-cleaner applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the scraper. Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof the scraper. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the frame for supporting the scraper when being dumped in the chimney-flue.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

The scraper of the present invention includes a concavo-conveX body 23, which is open at opposite ends and has its opposite end edge portions pressed outwardly to form conveXed stiffening-ribs 36 37, which also constitute rounded shoes upon which the body is slidably supported when being worked back and forth within a stovepipe.

The advantage of the shoes resides in.,the fact that they elevate the edges of the body and prevent them from hanging upon the end of the inner stovepipe-section at the joint between telescoped sections. The opposite sides of the concavo-convex body are braced and connected by an arch 25, and the arch and the body having a diameter approximating that of the stovepipe within which the device is to be mounted. The body of the scraper is provided with a curved plate 27, hinged within the rear portion of the body and to the bottom thereof, as at 26, the rear free portion of the plate being provided with a scraping edge 38. This plate is curved transversely so as to have its sides received within the upright sides of the body, and the front or inner end of the plate is beaded so as to snugly embrace a stifieningband 28, having approximately the same diameter as the arch 25 and designed to engage the latter as a stop to limit the forward and inward movement of the hinged plate. A link 30 has a loose or hinged connection 29 with the inner face of the plate, and tow this link is loosely connected a rod 31, which is provided at its outer end with a knob or handle 34.

To illustrate the application and operation of the present device, there has been shown in the accompanying drawings a portion 16 of an ordinary chimney with which isassociated an ordinary stovepipe 20, having an elbow 33. The present scraper is placed within the horizontal stovepipe-section, and then the elbow 33 is assembled with the stovepipesection, said elbow being provided with an opening for the reception of the rod 31, and an outwardly-directed tube 32 is fitted to the walls of the opening for the reception of a cap 35, so as to close the opening when the scraper is at its inner limit and the rod 31 entirely within the tube 32.

With the device located in the stovepipe, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, to clean the pipe the rod 31 is pushed inwardly, whereby the curved plate 27 of the scraper is swung down against the bottom of the pipe, as in Fig. 3, and further pressure upon the rod will force the scraper rearwardly, so that its edge 38 scrapes the soot loose from the walls of the pipe. The scraper may be partially and entirely rotated while being worked back and forth, so as to have access to all parts of the pipe for scraping the same. In this connection it will be noted that the diameter of the body 23 and the arch 25 aproxirnates that of the stovepipe, whereby the arch 25 constitutes a support for the scraper when the latter is inverted in the pipe. The soot which is scraped from the pipe will of course be collected in the body 23, and the scraper may be drawn forwardly and the soot dumped down the upright portion of the stovepipe and into the stove, from whence it can be readily removed. When the scraper is being drawn forwardly, the plate 24 is closed and is held in this position by the pull upon the rod 31 and the fact that the part 28 hes againstthe part 25 of the stop.

Besides dumping the soot into the upright portion of the stovepipe it is also proposed to dump the soot down the chimney, and to accomplish this feature it is necessary to support the scraper within the flue of the chimney when being dumped. The support for the scraper is shown in detail in Fig. 5 and includes a pair of substantially parallel bars 10 and 11, which are connected by arear terminal cross-bar 12 and an intermediate crossbar 13, these bars being bowed to substantially the same extent as the stovepipe. By preference the sidebars 10 and 11 and the terminal cross-bar 12 are bent from a single bar of metal. Just in advance of the connection between the intermediate cross-bar 13 and the side bars 10 and 11 the latter are kinked or convexed downwardly, as at 14 and 15, and the outer ends of the side bars are bent downwardly to form terminal hooks 18 and 19. This supporting-frame is introduced through the thiinble 17 of the chimney until its rear end 12 engages the rear wall of the chimney, and the two cross-bars 12 and 13 are spaced so as to lie at the front and rear of the chimney-flue in order that the latter may not be obstructed. The stovepipe 20 is then introduced into the opening 17, and a split band or collar 21 is placed around the stovepipe so as to embrace the outer ends of the frame-arms 10 and 11, with the hooks 18 and 19 engaging snugly across the front edge of the band. A clamping screw or bolt 22 connects the ends of the band 21, so as to snugly embrace the band upon the stovepipe and the sides of the frame.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. A stovepipe-cleaner comprising a con cavo-convex body which is open at opposite ends, a hinged plate carried by the body and having its free end provided with a scraping edge, and a controlling-rod connected to the hinged plate.

2. A stovepipe-cleaner comprising a concavo-convex body, a hinged plate forming a back therefor and having a scraping edge, a controlling-rod connected to the back, and an arch spanning the open top of the body and constituting a support therefor when the device is inverted.

3. In a device of the class described, a scraper open at one side and curved to conform to the interior of a stovepipe, a curved stop-bail extending over the open side of the scraper, a curved plate hinged to the scraper and forming an extension thereof when disposed in one position and a partial closure thereto when in another position, a stop carried by the hinged plate to engage the bail of the scraper when elevated, and a rod loosely connected to the hinged member for actuating the device.

4. A stovepipe-cleaner comprising a scraper conformed to the curvature of a pipe, a curved plate hinged to the scraper and forming an extension thereof when disposed in one direction and a partial closure thereto when in another position, a stop carried by the hinged plate to engage the scraper and limit the movement in one direction, and operating means connected to the hinged plate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afliXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

hi EDWARD BURGER.

* mark Witnesses:

CHAS. M. EASTER, FRANK O. FAwoETT. 

